Blog Tour of Machu Picchu -- it truly is a wonder.

Machu Picchu has attained mystical status as an Incan city often described as one of the wonders of the ancient world, and it truly is a wonder to behold. Machu Picchu is located on a mountain top surrounded by mountains that are higher.  This picture below (from Wikipedia) was taken from the top of the neighboring mountain, Huayna Picchu.  Look at the shape of the city. The shape can be seen as a condor -- the bird that represents the "kingdom of the sky" in the Incan concept of the world.


Also note the "zig-zag" route of the bus road on the left of the mountain side that takes one to the Machu Picchu.

The diagram below shows our route.  We went from Cusco by bus to Ollantaytambo, from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes by train, and from there by bus to the top of the mountain.  This trip was about four hours in length, and if we do it again, we would stay at a hotel in Aguas Calientes so one could tour the site in a more rested manner.  Our return to Cusco was similar.

Here we wait in Ollantaytambo for our train.  Gil, Deborah and Julie in pic.

Our excellent guide, Magaly, meets us in Aguas Calientes.

Our first view of the site after entering the complex.  The massiveness of the site is amazing.  All the energy that went into the building of Machu Picchu cannot be imagined. At the beginning of the tour, we had light rain and fog (typical in March), but during the latter part of the tour, we were blessed with sunshine.

This is the photo of the site showing the terraces and buildings, and this photo will be used through out this blog tour.  Machu Picchu receives about 80 inches of rain a year, and the area is the beginning of the jungle. Some damage has occurred to the site over the centuries due to the encroaching jungle, but the site has not been used as a source of stone for colonial buildings like many of the other ancient sites. A crew of maintenance people continually clean the plant growth on the stones.

The builders of Machu Picchu needed to control the flow of water and were successful in that endeavor.  Ultimately, around 200 houses were built on the site, and about 1000 people are thought to have lived there. 

There are no written records of Machu Picchu, so the names and functions of the elements of the complex are "invented."  Hiram Bingham, who publicized the place after his initial visit in 1911 and subsequent archeological visits, applied names and functions to the areas of the site; and for the most part those designations are still used -- rightly or wrongly. 

Bingham's name of "dry moat" suggests a defensive purpose (a weak one) and our guide suggests the Incas did not build there because of geological reasons.  The moat divides the agricultural area from the urban area.

We enter the site and looking backwards we see a view of the guard houses  -- five in total, each of them built on a different terrace.  These terraces were probably agricultural in nature, and Magaly (our guide) explained they were built with water flow in mind (inset shows a page from her tour book.)

The caretakers' hut is on one of the highest points of the city and close to the entrance that the Incas would have used.

We leave the agricultural area, enter the urban city, and go to the Royal buildings.

A view of the royal houses from below.  When the site was used, there would have been roofs of timbers and thatch.

A view of the Temple of the Sun (temples of the sun and moon can be identified by their roundness).  This one is built on top of a natural rock formation. Note the window adornments made of stone.

This carved structure under the Temple of the Sun is known as the Royal Tomb. Bingham did not find any mummies there, but he thought that might be the function of the place.  Our guide thought it was a temple to Mother Earth. What do you think? 

A view of the Temple of the Sun from above.  The windows are built so on the winter solstice (June 21) the sun shines through the eastern window, and on the summer solstice (Dec 21) it shines through the southeast window.

Julie and Harold pause on entering the Royal House.  When the Incan leader visited Machu Picchu, this would have been his abode.  The protrusion above the lintel and the holes you see at waist level on the side stones were elements of a security door for the house.

As mentioned, the house would have been roofed, so it would have been quite dark in the interior. Our guide mentioned several times that these people were outdoor people and would have been outdoors for most of their activities, thus the large number of open plazas.  The houses were only for sleeping and cover during storms.  There are houses with two levels, but you must go outside the house to go from one level to the other - you cannot do it from within the house.

A rarity.  This is thought to be the bathroom for the royal house and is reputed to the only one found for that function in the archeological sites.
Let's keep moving on our tour.  The quarry is actually a jumble of large stones and may have been a work area, but not the source of all the stones in the complex.

Julie and Harold pause for a photo in the quarry.  The Sacred Plaza is below them, and Huayna Picchu is in the background.

More detail on the Sacred Plaza.  This area would have been the most important place for religious ceremonies.  The Main Temple is here, as are the Temple of the Three Window, a Temple for the Moon and the home of the high priest.

This is the view of the Sacred Plaza from the other side with the Quarry in the back ground.  The round Moon Temple is now on the right, the "sacristy" is the room in front of the wall of the Main Temple (see the white and blue umbrella), the house of the High Priest is in back of the crowd of people, and the Temple of the Three Windows is on the left. The Sacred Plaza is a crowded space.

The Main Temple (or Principal Temple).  The construction technique of the Inca was not faultless as some settling has occurred -- or perhaps a geological fault may have caused the damage.  Pictures from one hundred years ago by Bingham show the wall was in this condition at that time. The rear wall has seven niches and the side walls have five; the temple is open to the plaza.

The Temple of the Three windows faces eastward, and the rising sun would have been viewed through them. Again there are three walls with the open side toward the plaza.

The Intihuatana is the highest point in the Urban sector of the city and contains the astronomy elements that pertain to the sun.

A beam of light during the sunrise on the winter solstice (June 21) is projected onto the western wall.  It only lasts for a few minutes.

Magaly shows us the mark on the western wall where the winter solstice beam shines.

This would have been the main plaza for the populace of the city.  The Sacred Plaza would have only been for the elite.  We were told that some "significant" stones had been removed from the plaza in the 60s so that a helicopter could land in the plaza and now the stones cannot be found.

A view of the Sacred Rock area with Huayna Picchu in the background.  The fog was clearing up.

Here are some of the steps to be negotiated to leave Intihuatana and go to the sacred rock area.  Note the Urubamba River below.  The Urubamba flows around Machu Picchu on three sides and thus serves as an effective isolation for the site.

Mountains were thought to be reservoirs of good energy.  This stone appears to be an image of a mountain and would have blended in with the landscape of the mountains behind it.  Too foggy for a good picture.

Gil, Deb, Julie and Harold have divested themselves of their wet gear and continue on.

This area is sometimes referred to as the Industrial District.  Housing for the non-royals would have been here, possible ceramic production, etc.

Many houses of stone.  The third little pig would have liked it here.

A view of the Urubamba River from this side of Machu Picchu.

What could this have been used for?

Bingham had said these were the stones used for ceramic making (mortar and pestal concept).  Our guide strongly supported the theory that these were water-filled mirrors that would reflect star constellations and would have been used in a school.

This could have been a "classroom."  When the Incas would "subsume" another culture, they would bring the children of the elite here to "indoctrinate" the children in the "Incan way" of religion, science, technology, administration, etc.

Could this have been a slide for children as part of the school?  Probably.  What other function would it have?

The condor room with the head and body of the condor carved into the floor stone.  The wings are located in the above stones on the side.

Magaly explains the wing situation to those whose imagination cannot initially fathom the vision.  Magally's book page is in the insert.   The area has also been described as a jail as the walls above the area could have been used to detain people.

We had spent over five hours at the site, and we had not eaten.  We also had a train to catch, and we were tired (not grumpy though).  So off we went.  We regretted we did not have the time to walk a part of the Incan Trail that leads to Machu Picchu.   Next time.

The train tracks follow the Urubamba River and the river is ferocious at this point. We leave Machu Picchu, but maybe we will be back.  Yale University is apparently willing to return the over 5000 items taken from Machu Picchu by Bingham, and a new museum will be built in Cusco to house them.  It would be good to visit it.

You could join us on a return trip!